Re-registration tests pensioners

THE re-registration of pensioners and other recipients of State grants is still hobbling along very slowly.

One of the two computers used at the only remaining registration point in Windhoek – at the old TB Hospital in Khomasdal – broke down yesterday morning. As a result, people who receive their pensions in cash were turned away and only those receiving their pensions via the bank or Post Office were registered.At around 11h00 the second computer also gave problems and the registration process ground to a standstill.The old TB Hospital in Khomasdal is the only remaining registration point in Windhoek, as the other computers and personnel have been sent to the regions to do registrations there.”The problem is that people who are not supposed to register in Windhoek are doing so and they are the reason that the queues are so long and the process slow,” said Nataniel Itenge of United Africa Paymasters.People are supposed to register at the same place where they first registered as beneficiaries of State grants and not come to the capital to do so, he said.However, in the hall where 32 people were waiting to be registered, only one person was not a Windhoek resident.United Africa Paymasters provided chairs for people once they entered the hall.Outside the hall there are only two benches and many of the elderly bring along their own chairs.”I am sure that had they asked a church or school or even the breweries, they would have lent them chairs and benches for us to sit on,” said a pensioner who had been standing in a queue for three hours before entering the hall where he could sit down.Depending on the operator, an average of 700 people are registered at the TB Hospital between 07h00 and 17h00 every work day.The registration ends next Wednesday.As a result, people who receive their pensions in cash were turned away and only those receiving their pensions via the bank or Post Office were registered.At around 11h00 the second computer also gave problems and the registration process ground to a standstill.The old TB Hospital in Khomasdal is the only remaining registration point in Windhoek, as the other computers and personnel have been sent to the regions to do registrations there. “The problem is that people who are not supposed to register in Windhoek are doing so and they are the reason that the queues are so long and the process slow,” said Nataniel Itenge of United Africa Paymasters.People are supposed to register at the same place where they first registered as beneficiaries of State grants and not come to the capital to do so, he said.However, in the hall where 32 people were waiting to be registered, only one person was not a Windhoek resident.United Africa Paymasters provided chairs for people once they entered the hall.Outside the hall there are only two benches and many of the elderly bring along their own chairs.”I am sure that had they asked a church or school or even the breweries, they would have lent them chairs and benches for us to sit on,” said a pensioner who had been standing in a queue for three hours before entering the hall where he could sit down.Depending on the operator, an average of 700 people are registered at the TB Hospital between 07h00 and 17h00 every work day.The registration ends next Wednesday.